


Take Me Home

by maybe_mythical



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: College, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 06:59:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17116610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybe_mythical/pseuds/maybe_mythical
Summary: College/Pining Rhink for Mythical Secret Santa 2018!





	Take Me Home

**Author's Note:**

> College/Pining Rhink for Mythical Secret Santa 2018! Just some fluffy college boys who are absolutely crazy about each other. Written as a gift for @sirrenwavves over on tumblr!

Link stormed into the dorm room, startling Rhett who was playing video games. After jumping at hearing the slamming door, he looked at his roommate who had made his way to his bed. Link was laying on his back, hands over his face, shielding himself off from the world. Rhett knew everything about his best friend for nearly his entire life, and could tell from his labored breaths that a panic attack was about to begin. He hated seeing Link in such an agitated state, and it was even worse if he let it intensify. 

“Hey, bo, what’s going on?” Rhett put down his controller and began making his way to the edge of Link’s bed. He went to put his hand onto Link’s arm to comfort him, but paused. Would that be too much? Would Link pull away? Instead he just rested his hand on his own thigh and said , “Come on, talk to me.” The only response was the brunet slowly shaking his head. When his hands lowered, Rhett could see his eyes were watering. Link wouldn’t let himself go completely. He wouldn’t cry, not yet, but he was on the edge. 

Seeing Link like that broke Rhett’s heart. He knew his best friend struggled with his anxiety, especially with finals week approaching, and all he wanted to do was take away his pain. He always tried to rationalize the deep care he had for Link as being brothers, closer than friends, but if he was being honest with himself, it was more of a love than he could ever admit to, even to himself. Looking down at Link’s pronounced cheeks, his soulful eyes, his slender frame, left him thinking and feeling things that he shouldn't. Not for another man. Not for Link.

His thoughts were interrupted by Link’s voice. It broke slightly as he whispered “This place is going to be the end of me. Three papers, so much reading, I just feel like I’m so behind and I can’t catch up. I’m drowning here,” he paused to swallow, shaking his head again, “I’m just so overwhelmed. Can I really do this?” Link’s expression remained dark and pained. Rhett felt the guilt rising in him. The only reason they were becoming engineers and having such a heavy workload was because of his father. Because he didn’t believe in their dreams of film school. Because Link would follow along with whatever Rhett did, until the end. He tried to push those feelings away in order to be there for Link, no matter what.

“Come on, let’s go,” Rhett responded, patting Link’s shoulder. Bewilderment was all that looked back at him. “Didn’t you just hear? I have way too much to do man and if I don’t get started now there’s not way that I’ll finish and I can’t fail these papers, I won’t be able to recover from-” Link ranted, his face turning flush with all the words spewing out of him. 

“Stop. Breathe. And come with me. I’ve never steered you wrong, yeah?” Rhett cut him off. He knew he couldn’t let Link stay and obsess over this, how easily he would and how much he would drain himself. He needed to get him out. Get him somewhere safe. Somewhere he would be able to decompress and feel like himself once again. Where Rhett wouldn’t have to feel the guilt of his fathers decisions for both of them. Link laughed back, “You don’t want me to answer that,” adding with a slight smile, “but sure. Anywhere is better than here right now.”

Rhett leads him to the parking lot, and into his Dodge Dynasty. Link hesitated before grabbing at the handle. “Really not gonna tell me where we’re going?” he asked, his eyebrows slightly raised, voice soft. His question was met with laughter and an offhanded “not a chance.” 

After getting in the car and buckling his seatbelt, Link looked over at the tall man in the driver seat. The person who knew him best in the world. The person he trusted most. The person that, he was too terrified to ever admit aloud, that he loved. Sunlight shone on Rhett’s dirty blond hair and made his eyes sparkle. Link licked his lips, it was a sin, it was wrong, it shouldn’t be happening all echoed in his mind, but that didn’t stop how desperately he wanted to lean over and kiss his best friend. 

Rhett glanced over and made quick eye contact with Link before they both averted their gaze, unsure. As the car started and Merle began playing, Link began humming softly along with the melody. The sound reverberated all through Rhett, landing squarely on his heart. He took a deep breath, trying to quell his desperation for the other man. His best friend. His brother. His love? No, it couldn’t be. That would be wrong, and Link could never want the same. He couldn’t risk pushing away the one person he cared about the most. As they got on the highway, Link spoke again, interrupting Rhett’s thoughts.

“Hey, I’m sorry for freaking out a bit back there. This is just so hard sometimes, you know?” Link said quietly, fidgeting with his hands like he always did when he was nervous. Somehow, even at six foot one, he looked so small in the passenger seat, slumped over and nervous. Rhett gave an empathetic glance towards him and replied, “I know man, and I’m sorry that this is all my fault. I’m sorry that we’re not in film school like we wanted. That I couldn’t stand up to my dad and change his mind. That-” 

This time it was Rhett’s turn to be cut off. “Don’t,” Link said, sounding more assured than he had all day, “I’ve never doubted that whatever we did, we would do together. Blood oath, brother. I haven’t forgotten.” Rhett felt appreciation emanating throughout himself for his friend. “Of course,” was all Rhett could reply, “together.”

Merle’s voice took over once again as the two young men drove down the highway. A large sign reading “Buies Creek” pointed them in the direction of their exit. Rhett turned the car and continued on. “We’re going home?” Link asked, curiously. They hadn’t been back home in some time, but he wasn’t sure why they were going there now. What else would they be doing in Buies Creek? Did Rhett really think that right now Link needed his mommy? “In a way,” Rhett replied.

Any agitation Link had felt at the direction they were headed faded when Rhett turned off the road that would have lead them to his house. Instead they were taking a road just as familiar, but felt even more safe. “We’re going to the river,” Link said, more of a statement than a question. Rhett just smiled, “Told you, we’re going home.” Both of them knew, that the Cape Fear River was their safe place, the spot they always went when they needed time, just for them. If home is where the heart is, the river was without a question their home.

Rhett parked the car at the edge of the river and exited the truck with Link following right behind. “Looked like you could use a swim,” Rhett stated, already taking off his shirt. They both began to undress, each stealing glances at the other’s long and lean body. Admiring thin waists and long limbs. Slight tans and toned chests. They only allowed themselves to look for an instant at a time, a millisecond. Too fearful of the other catching them, of liking the image a little too much and making it obvious. Both not knowing that the other was feeling and wishing for the exact same thing.

Once they were undressed, they ran into the cool water like they did when they were in high school, splashing and playing and laughing. They talked about how they had thought high school was stressful and laughed. “Remember when getting a girlfriend was our biggest worry?” laughed Rhett as he swam nonchalantly near Link. “I remember when your biggest worry was that crush you had on Melissa Hood,” teased Link, reigniting the fight Rhett had with his older brother years earlier. “I did not like her!” Rhett swam closer to Link as he spoke.

“You totally did,” Link replied, playfully pushing Rhett as he approached. This led to more accusations, splashes and pushed between them. Even play fighting came easy to them. Rhett was relieved and intoxicated by Link’s laughter. His friend looked beautiful with his hair soaked by river water, chest glistening with reflected sunlight. It was almost too much for him to take, his heart swelling with each laugh, each glance, each move. Eventually, Rhett just decided he was going to go for his signature final move. 

“Well, I’m dead,” he said, monotone, starting to push his body onto Link in the water. “Come on, in the water?! You trying to drown me?” Link laughed, trying to push the tall man off of him. They tussled for a minute or two until they were left breathless and grasping at each others upper arms. They both grew silent as their eyes met with a palpable electricity igniting between them. There was a pull, an immediate magnetism that took over. You could ask either one of them who leaned in, who initiated what was about to happen and neither would be able to say. 

Their lips met and it was an explosion inside Rhett’s chest. Years of wanting, waiting, fear and love permeated from every fiber of his being. He poured himself into the kiss, closing his eyes to completely immerse himself in the moment. Feeling Link kiss him back, he grew bolder. He wrapped one arm around Link’s lithe waist, the other found its way into his hair, drawing his body even nearer. A soft moan escaped Link’s lips as his hands met behind Rhett’s neck. Link couldn’t believe this moment was real. All of the fear and trepidation he had felt deep within himself melted away against Rhett’s passionate kiss. 

It could have been a minute. It could have been an hour. Time stood still and time exploded around their kiss. Walls crumbled. Fear dissipated. All that was left was the love that had been growing in both of their hearts for years. As they drew apart, their eyes met once more.

“How are you feeling?” Rhett asked, knowing the layers that the question had. 

“I feel much better,” Link replied, pressing another kiss onto Rhett’s lips in confirmation, “I feel like I’m finally home. Thank you.”


End file.
